


At Peace

by ThePreciousHeart



Category: Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Genre: Afterlife, Bittersweet Ending, Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-02
Updated: 2014-06-02
Packaged: 2018-02-03 04:51:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1731830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePreciousHeart/pseuds/ThePreciousHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short piece about the death of Victor Frankenstein.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At Peace

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I wouldn't write fanfiction from a novel as old as this, but since I grew to love Victor Frankenstein so much over the course of the novel I had to make sure his final hours were spent in peace.  
> Apologize if some of the dialogue is clunky; I wrote it in one night and didn't edit anything.

       “Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries. Yet why do I say this? I have myself been blasted in these hopes, yet another may succeed.”

       Beyond the creaking of the ship as it moved slowly through the treacherous, icy waters, beyond the soft, scheming mutters of crewmen outside the cabin and beyond the crackle of the burning candle beside the death-bed, all was as silent as the day the world was made. Within that bed was the once-noble, now wretchedly tortured Victor Frankenstein, his rasping breaths growing increasingly laborious as the hour drew nearer. Walton sat beside him, clutching one hand in a firm grip. Whether the contact was to provide Victor with comfort or to prevent Death from dragging him off, he could not say.

       Little did Walton know that Death had already had it in for Victor. Death had sought him far and wide, visiting him as he slept each night and whispering perfumed promises in his ear. For half a year now at least Victor Frankenstein had been living with one foot in the grave, ready to give it all up as soon as the dreadful business of hunting down and destroying his live creation was done with. He had only been able to go so far before his strength failed him and, soon enough, Walton failed him as well. But none of that mattered now, at the present moment, for at last Victor was facing his final repose. He welcomed it with open arms.

       The voices that had filled his ears for so long returned now at full force, calling his name. _Victor! Come and join us, Victor!_ And somehow he managed to open his eyes and gaze with heartfelt intensity at each of them. Oh, how he had missed them all! Friends and family alike crowded around, and he was encircled in their embraces.

       First to approach was his father, the most recently deceased, his eyes glowing warmly with unfailing appreciation. _I am proud of you, my son,_ the sonorous words rang out, words which naturally had never been permitted in life, but were glorious to hear so close to death. Victor graciously accepted the praise, soaking it into his lost soul.

       Stepping out from behind father Frankenstein came Justine Moritz, the angelic young girl who so long ago had been sent to the hangman for a crime that she did not commit. Her blood had been on Victor’s hands, and yet with one soft smile he felt the burden lift from his shoulders. He cried out to her- _I’m sorry, Justine!_ And she replied- _I forgive you._ The words stirred him and set him alight again. _I forgive you._ After so many years, it was all he needed to hear.

       Next came Henry Clerval with a grin stretching from cheek to cheek, making his way to Victor’s side in order to heartily and boisterously embrace him. For the first time since little William Frankenstein had been killed- nay, for the first time since the wedding- Victor felt the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile. Ah, Henry, how delightful it was to see him again! Henry who had taken such good care of Victor, who had helped him through his delusions, who had stayed by his side throughout their travels and never once ceased in his attempts to cheer Victor up and bring him back to the company of man- dearest Henry was standing before him now, vitally well, with no sign of the awful black marks of strangulation on his neck. His eyes were laughing, and Victor longed to throw back his head and join in on the fun. But first… _she_ needed to arrive.

       The finale of the reunion of Frankenstein’s victims came from within the group, and everyone parted to make way for her. She carried a child at her side, his small pudgy hand threaded through hers, and Victor didn’t need to look twice to recognize little William for who he was. Overcome, he dropped to his knees, and watched her move into place above him, smiling like the seraph that she was. Her long white dress flowed from behind her in an endless train, and the veil before her face did nothing to obscure the glimmer of her bright blue eyes. Letting go William, she entreated Victor to stand and greet her properly, and he did with tears forming in his eyes. _Elizabeth_ _._ He took her hand. Still smiling, she reached up to touch his face, and suddenly he had pushed the veil back from her face and they were kissing as they had on their wedding day.

         _Elizabeth, my love, my one and only. Elizabeth, my more than sister, I love you very much._

She replied- _And I love you, dear Victor._ And all around them his family and friends were rejoicing.

       And somewhere, in the very back of his mind… in the fragment of lucidity still engrained within him, Victor knew that this couldn’t possibly be real. He didn’t deserve to see his family one last time, to spend eternity with them. By all rights he ought to be rotting in Hell at this very moment, his soul consumed by agony and flame! He deserved to be punished along with his creation for daring to defy God Himself!

       But his family was calling, and they definitely felt solid and present and very much alive. Who cared if it was all merely a selfish, passionate delusion! It was the only respite that Victor could possibly receive from the miseries of his life’s semblance. If God had seen fit to bring his family back to him, then Victor felt they had made peace with each other and he would never have to dwell on the deeds he had done in life ever again.

       Ah, blissful peace…

       If Victor still had complete control over his senses he would have realized that it was not his friends who cradled him, but the rocking motion of the boat on the waves. He would know that it was only Walton and no one else who sat beside him, Walton whose voice he heard as he tried to hold back his tears. But as it was, nothing really mattered.

       He was with his father, he was with Justine, he was with Henry and William and Elizabeth… and then, just as a serene smile lit his face, he was with no one. The soul of Victor Frankenstein had faded into blackness.


End file.
